Comelec 2nd Division cancels Duterte Youth party-list’s registration
Duterte Youth party-list chairman Ronald Cardema (INQUIRER.net file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division has decided to cancel the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list.
According to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, the Comelec will release the resolution which was signed and dated June 18, 2025.
“The Comelec will release today the resolution on Duterte Youth by a vote of 2-1, cancelling the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list,” he told reporters in an interview at around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
The resolution sent to the media at 2:45 p.m. showed that the division voted 2-1 in favor of canceling the registration of the Duterte Youth party-list.
The proclamation of the party-list was previously suspended due to its pending cases before the poll body.
It ranked second in the party-list race with over 2 million votes.
Garcia noted that the decision stemmed from a 2019 case filed against the organization.
In 2019, youth leaders filed a petition seeking to nullify the group’s registration status, as the Comelec en banc had approved it without publishing the organization’s petition, and without holding a proper hearing on the party list’s application.
These procedures are mandated under the Party-list System Act.
The 25-page decision ruled that the petition for cancellation was timely filed; the party-list’s registration is void from the beginning for non-compliance with the jurisdictional requirements of publication and hearing; and the party-list committed grounds for the cancellation of registration under the Section 2, Rule 2 of the Comelec Resolution No. 9366.
Garcia explained that a cancellation of a party-list’s registration means that it is as if a party-list is not accredited in the first place.
This status means the organization loses the rights and privileges of an accredited party-list.
Case reassigned
Garcia also said the presiding commissioner of the case sought to dismiss the petition on certain grounds.
However, the two members of the division disagreed with the decision.
Therefore, the writing of the ruling was reassigned to one of the two dissenting members.
“The one who wrote the resolution lost in his decision so the assignment of writing the majority decision needed to be re-raffled or re-assigned to the two dissenters so [that] it would be a majority decision, and not a dissenting one,” the Comelec chief recalled.
A copy of the decision sent to the media showed that Commissioner Rey Bulay was the one who gave a dissenting opinion on the reassigned majority decision, voting to dismiss the petition.
Decision not yet final
Garcia noted that the decision is not yet final and executory since the party-list can still file a motion for reconsideration within five days after the promulgation of the ruling.
READ: Comelec suspends proclamation of Duterte Youth, BH party-lists
“The decision of the division is not final, and therefore, there are many times when the decision of one member changes during the en banc, especially if there will be an explanation on why the division’s decision was wrong,” he pointed out.
Garcia also said that once the Comelec en banc decides on the motion, the decision can still be appealed before the Supreme Court within five days.
Meanwhile, when asked if the party-list organization can already assume seats in the 20th Congress, the Comelec chairperson said there is still no final answer to that question since the party-list can still avail of the remedy to its predicament.
When asked if other losing party-lists can claim seats once the Duterte Youth is not proclaimed, the poll chief said that it is not yet the right time to discuss that kind of situation.
“Earlier, the en banc had an initial discussion on that, but we stopped it because it is not right to tackle the issue since the party-list group is still entitled to file a motion for reconsideration,” he concluded. /apl /atm
